I have zero experience with, and little knowledge of, the A4, but can’t you approximate this with, say, ring/amplitude-modulated pulse waves? Set them low-ish to maximize side bands, detune w/ lots of dissonance, so they don’t have obvious harmonic relationships, then remove the mud with HPF. At least, that’s what I’d try.
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You are right, it can be created that way.
However, the Rytm/808 hi-hat and cymbal machines have six oscillators, so they are considerably richer than Analog Four.
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The hats and cymbals were the worst part of the Rytm in my opinion, so I wouldn’t recommend it over the A4 for this. As far as I can tell most people just end up using the noise machine (or samples) for hats which can just as easily be done in the A4.
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IMO
Order of best hats in Elektron current boxes (not including samplers)…
1.DN
2.AR
3.A4
4.MC
The AR Hats are totally workable, but yes they do take some work…and 1/2 the time i end up taking a short cut by adding samples (which im o.k. with)…just to get that metallic clang, especially ride and open hats…
but…the DN with the clangourous nature of FM nails these sounds better i think…yet my least favourite are the FM machines for hats on the MC…
I could easily use any of the above as a drum machine though.
They all rip on an Alesis SR16…
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Buy the ARMKII
Its my most favourite bit of kit ever…
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the A4 drums rule. like anything else it definitely depends on what your tastes are, but the variety and quality of the drum sounds are both very impressive. i use the A4 by itself and squeeze pretty interesting drum parts onto just 2 tracks using p-locks, the sound pool, and the delay/reverb sends. If you are just using the A4 for drums alone you’ll have more than enough space to get the sounds you want.
If you want samples though, then the AR is the thing to use.
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Thanks for all the answers. I think I have a very decent idea of what people think. I think I’ll just see where I end up with after using my DFAM which should arrive shortly and then have a better idea where I want to go. I have a strong hiphop sound influence, so traditionally I gravitated towards simpler sounds but I do enjoy analog kicks and using a drum machine. In the box, I often ended up starting out using Sugarbytes Drumcomputer for a first groove layout and I would like to get into morphing drum grooves through parameter changes. But since I’m currently not sure what and how I exactly will produce, I also didn’t have a good idea, what’s the right machine 
. In the end I will probably try out both at some point and see what I really like for making music at that point in time.
That said im very hype about the A4 because of all the options (especially also routing audio in). I do like a good mangling, especially on samples before cutting them. I did this for a couple of years with the SP404 OG, while sampling.
edit: I also don’t look at a specific type of drum sound. I like a ‘fat kick’ but I don’t need an 808. I know I do like stuff like the occasional noise based snare or sidestick type clicks sound.
edit2: damn I just seen another AR video, the performances function seems extremely cool and useful
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every time this topic gets refreshed, I cringe that I sold mine long ago.
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…if ur into pads and fingerdrumming, u already got what it needs…
rytms pads are fancy, but nowhere near to the feel of whatever akai ever had to offer…
and if u want truu analog drums…well, for around 600 bux u get it ALL with an a4 mk1…
hardwire one of ur mpc’s single outs into a4 inputs and there u go…melt any kind of sample with any kind of analog vibe…
if ur willling to dig deep, got some know how of analog synthesis, i can guarantee u, ur options for all kind of drum and percussive sounds become endless…from standards to totally otherworldly…
i get all kind of drumsounds AND patterns to let them breathe, talk and interact with each other like with nothing else…
for drums u need fast envelopes…and nope, no worries here…a4 IS a kind of modular rack in a box…
4 voices on 4 individual sequencerlanes that can jump around through all kinds of sonic flavours within every single trig…and hell yeah, it grooves…on it’s own…not to mention what can happen, once u transpose all that in realtime…or what sonic monsters can evolve, once u treat the filters and the open feed of osc2 the right or the wrong way… 
i use mine since almost a decade and i’m still surprised, what all kind of rhytmical relevant magic stuff it can do…this thing speaks while it’s hammering along…
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…and the reason that I traded my AR for another AK to have one dedicated to multi output, amazing quality analog drums 
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I had the AR for a while (twice actually) but mainly used it a hybrid sample mangler because I couldn’t get on with the drum engines much. You can get some solid kicks but there was a slightly “mushy” quality to them. All the controls for envelopes on the A4 produced much snappier and dynamic percussion sounds for me.
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The A4 for drums is really good. Elektron should buy the druma library and put it in there as stock presets. The AR engine is less inspiring for me even though the new engines that were added afterward help. (I wish the Syntakt is just that: a rebranded A4 in the body of the AR (mk1) but with better pads. That would be the drum machine - that can also be a polysynth - to rule them all!)
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Appreciate it, I think you got exactly, where I wanted to go. That’s why I was asking about the A4 and I had targeted the Mk1 because their price is good right now. I missed some great auctions but they’ll probably come back. I’ll see if I can pick one up.
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…i expect the 2nd hand prices to be stable around 600 to 700 bux…at least for this year…
cause sooner than later, on the longer run, they will rise quite a bit again…
so don’t go for the cheapest offer now…pick one that is in mint conditions and u’ll get a unit that will serve u fine for years to come…keep in mind, even an offer that is a little higher, is still a great catch and deal for this machine…
and spent it one of the hard case dust/protection covers…it deserves it even more than any ot…
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yeah I think you can get a ‘very good condition’ one for 550€ with a bit of patience right now. I basically missed a 500 one. thing is, everything in in the used market went up by 20-30% over the last year, so I was weary overspending on gear rentals ;). ill also prolly generally invest in dust covers, although I really think spending 50 bucks on a piece of rectangular plastic is a rip-off :D. maybe I should get into 3d printing. not sure I agree how high the used prices will go, seeing that there is a mk2 version with a much nicer screen.
I got an mk1 right before the new year for about $550. I figured the prices on these were going to go up so I wanted to get ahead of it. I prefer the old mk1 black boxes and think others do too. Fortunately elektron sold a heap of these so there’s a lot of them out there.
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I was thinking the exact same about plastic dust covers so I bought these for my Elektrons. Made in and shipping from Portugal. About the same price as the plastic ones but much prefer the look of these.
Other than that, this thread is not helping with my GAS for an A4 mk1. Absolutely great value for money! Stupidly let mine go last year… I think the 2nd hand prices will remain good at least as long as the mk2’s are in production. So I’ll probably end up getting one (next year).
I know that the Rytm is THE Elektron drum machine for many. I had it twice but it just didn’t work for me at all. The only Elektron I never learned to love and I’ve had most of them.
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…those covers from elektron are way more a protection shield…keeping the dust away is nothing but a nice side effect…and since these covers fit super tight and are robust as fuk, they’re made to travel and protect the surface, including all push encoders like a tank…no matter what, where or how u store and move ur machines…
if u know them only from pictures and hearsay, 50 bux might seem a lot…
if u got them in use, u don’t ask twice…
while those half bags in soft fabrics for 40 bux actually really cover stardust only and look fancy…
no real comparison possible…
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I can second this. the elektron covers are no joke. absolute essential investment.
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